5 Tips to Select an Outdoor Sauna

Heating methods aren't the only way saunas have changed with the times. We're a long way from stoking flames and pouring water on stacks of rocks (if we want to be, that is).

Sauna controls can be programmed to start the heating process (which typically takes at least 30 minutes) on a timer so you walk into a perfectly heated room. Some offer settings for energy efficiency and have presets to store different user's temperature preferences. Remote control can eliminate the need to ever leave the bench, steam can be automated, aromatherapy scents injected, and auxiliary inputs utilized for music and lighting technology you already own.

There's one feature, though, that needs to be included in whichever controls you choose: auto-off. The heat source must be told to turn itself off after a preset period of time so a user who falls asleep in there doesn't get hurt.

Luckily for the purists, even a traditional-style sauna can be equipped with modern safety controls. Surely even the Finns didn't care for heat stroke.

For more information on outdoor saunas and their indoor counterparts, check out the links on the next page.

Safety in the Sauna

Do not use drugs or alcohol; stay in for more than 20 minutes per session (and less with increasing age); remain in the sauna if you feel dizzy, faint, or short of breath; or enter in the first place if you have heart or lung problems.